GAMBLING GUIDE

Jerry Bo: Bookie busters World Cup edition

Jerry Bo: Bookie busters World Cup edition
Messi should help Argentina score more than one goal. Dennis Doyle/Getty Images

The anticipation is over, the World Cup has arrived. Well, let's be serious, the opening day of the tournament is nothing but a tease with the unpleasant opening ceremony, followed by a less than stellar matchup between the host nation Russia and Saudi Arabia.

The game was somewhat of a surprise, not so much by the team that won, but more of the fashion they did it in. Russia got off to a hot start netting five goals and a leg up in the group. The goal differential will be crucial when it comes down to group winners. Look for Uruguay to come out serious, knowing that second place in this group matches you up potentially with France in the round of 16. Saud Arabia looked extremely vulnerable and will be the group's punching bag.

The opening game to the tournament saw five total goals, with over backers laughing their way to the cashier. Historically, betting overs in the opening game of the group stages has been a bad idea. The element of playing in matches with stakes so high tend to make international teams play somewhat more cautious. This is especially true early in tournaments when teams are still getting accustomed to the stage and not making mistakes is a the top of every player's mind. Over time, the first group games have shown us to have less amount of goals than other stages of the competition.



As you can see, only twice since 1990 has the average been higher than 2.5 goals per game in the first match of the group stages. Brazil 2014 saw a record amount of goals averaging 3.06 per match, and we saw that carry over to Thursday's match.

Gamblers tend to have a short memory, and many will gravitate to backing overs with the success as of late in opening matches. I expect a regression at some point and the numbers getting back to normal, so tread overs carefully as the first week unfolds.

Picks

6/15

Uruguay vs Egypt - FIFA World Cup - Group A
Uruguay Moneyline -165     4*

Iran vs Morocco - FIFA World Cup - Group B
Morocco -.5   +126 1*

Spain vs Portugal- FIFA World Cup - Group B
Over 2      1*

6/16

Australia vs France - FIFA World Cup - Group C
France Team Total Over 2     MAX BET 5*

Iceland vs Argentina - FIFA World Cup - Group D
Argentina Team total over 1.5   3*

Denmark vs Peru - FIFA World Cup - Group C
PASS  (plenty of Peru futures)

Nigeria vs Croatia - FIFA World Cup - Group D
Over 2           2*
6/17

Serbia vs Costa Rica - FIFA World Cup - Group E
PASS

Mexico vs Germany - FIFA World Cup - Group F
PASS

Switzerland vs Brazil - FIFA World Cup - Group E
Brazil -1     3*

6/18

South Korea vs Sweden - FIFA World Cup - Group F
PASS

Panama vs Belgium - FIFA World Cup - Group G
PASS

England vs Tunisia - FIFA World Cup - Group G
PASS
 

6/19

Japan vs Colombia - FIFA World Cup - Group H
Colombia Moneyline    2*

Senegal vs Poland - FIFA World Cup - Group H
Over 2           2*

Egypt vs Russia - FIFA World Cup - Group A
PASS



For any questions or comments reach me @JerryBoKnowz on Twitter


 

 

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The Astros beat the Phillies, 2-1. Photo by Logan Riely/Getty Images.

Cam Smith hit an RBI single in the eighth inning to give the Houston Astros a 2-1 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday.

The rookie's second hit of the game came off Orion Kerkering (5-3) and gave the Astros their fourth straight win.

Brandon Marsh tied the game on a sacrifice fly in the top of the inning to end the Phillies' 26-inning scoreless streak.

The Astros took a 1-0 lead on Yainer Diaz’s RBI single in the second inning. They only managed three more hits off Phillies starter Christopher Sanchez, who struck out 11 with zero walks over six innings. Sanchez has not issued a walk in three straight starts.

Hunter Brown lowered his league best ERA to 1.74 by scattering three singles over seven shutout innings, with nine strikeouts. He did not allow a runner to reach second base.

Bryan Abreu (3-3) struck out Trea Turner to end the eighth, and then struck out Kyle Schwarber, Alec Bohm, and Nick Castellanos in the ninth.

Abreu joined Julia Morales after the game and talked about his impressive performance!

Rafael Marchán had two of the Phillies' four hits. Bryson Stott reached base twice and scored the Phillies' lone run.

Key moment

Smith’s RBI.

Key stat

Brown’s 1.74 ERA is the fourth best in Astros history through 16 starts and the best since Justin Verlander posted a 1.60 ERA through 16 starts in 2018.

Up next

The Astros open a three-game series against the Cubs on Friday with LHP Brandon Walter (0-1 3.80 ERA) on the mound.

The Phillies open a three-game series at the Braves on Friday with RHP Mick Abel (2-1 3.47 ERA) against Atlanta RHP Bryce Elder (2-4 4.77).

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